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Poetry

The Two Boys

By Anonymous (from George Borrow)
Translated from Romany by Peter Constantine

Two Romany boys were sent,
sent across the great sea.
Plato for brawling,
Lasho for stealing
the purse of a great lady.

And when they came to the other land,
The land that’s over the sea,
Plato was quickly
hung, but Lasho
became husband to a great lady.

Do you want to know who the lady was?
It was the lady from whom he’d stolen the purse:
The boy had a black
witching eye,
And she had followed him across the great sea.

English Romany (Original)

Two Romany boys were sent,
sent across the great sea.
Plato for brawling,
Lasho for stealing
the purse of a great lady.

And when they came to the other land,
The land that’s over the sea,
Plato was quickly
hung, but Lasho
became husband to a great lady.

Do you want to know who the lady was?
It was the lady from whom he’d stolen the purse:
The boy had a black
witching eye,
And she had followed him across the great sea.

Dui Chalor

Dui Romany Chals were bitcheney,
Bitcheney pawdle the bori pawnee.
Plato for kawring,
Lasho for choring
The putsi of a bori rawnee.

And when they well’d to the wafu tem,
The tem that’s pawdle the bori pawnee,
Plato was nasho
Sig, but Lasho
Was lell’d for rom by a bori rawnee.

You cam to jin who that rawnie was,
‘Twas the rawnie from whom he chor’d the putsee:
The Chal had a black
Chohauniskie yack,
And she slomm’d him pawdle the bori pawnee.

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